You have an option whether to have the software calculate spousal support.
If that option is turned off, then spousal support will calculate to zero.
To activate the calculation, go to the Support Data screen and scroll down to the section labeled “Spousal Support.” It is on the first line of that section, as shown below:
You can then see the calculated spousal support amount towards the bottom of the screen, in a section labeled, “Spousal Support to use in the Budget Report, What If, Declarations, and Child Support,” as shown below.
This amount will then be used in the calculation of child support and will flow to the child support guideline worksheet.
We offer this option because, many times, people do not want a spousal support amount to be calculated. This can be either because they want to negotiate spousal support, or because there will not be any spousal support in the situation.
If you do not want spousal support to be calculated:
- Clear the check box (which appears again on line 2 in the image above)
- Enter the negotiated amount on line 3.
If you clear the check box shown on line 2 in the image above, and you leave line 3 blank, then there will not be any spousal support amount appearing on the guideline worksheet.
If you want to see how spousal support is calculated, you can scroll to the section labeled “Child and spousal support results details,” and click the link in that section for an “audit trail.”